Roger Federer: A Champion in Decline

Times of India

October 27, 2013

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Roger Federer's career has been in free fall this year. He has slipped to eighth in world rankings, didn't make a Grand Slam final for the first time since 2002 and is in danger of missing the year-end championships next month. To arrest the skid, he's changed his racquet and fired his coach. Will it be enough?

The greatest in terms of sheer numbers, Federer ranks as the greatest player of all time. Sparkling and long, the records - he has won the most number of Grand Slams (17), spent the most number of weeks as No. 1 (302), snared the most consecutive final wins (24), to list a few - speak for themselves.

But to evoke Federer's greatness in only numbers would be to overlook his genius. No player as graceful, no player with a better footwork, no player with a more sweeping all court game has ever held a tennis racquet. Federer socks the ball as hard as any other player.

The difference is that while the brute power of competitors is flagrant, Federer's strokes are masked in beauty. You won't hear a grunt from him. You might have to strain to catch a drop of sweat on him. The forehands are released with a spring of step reminiscent of a ballerina.

His one-handed backhand is vintage. He covers the court as effortlessly as an ice skater. His changes in pace and spin are subtle. The impossible angles of returns elicit 'oohs' and 'ahs' from the fan and the non-partisan alike.

Now compare Federer's game with those of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, his great rivals, who are now reigning atop tennis. Nadal emotes with the aggression of a boxer bent on battering an opponent. The confluence of grimaces, dives and lunges tells the story of a man whose life depended on a victory, not enjoying the game.

Djokovic's game is no less muscular, relying explicitly on ferocious topspin from the baseline to pulverise opponents into submission.

In other words, Federer's game is sublime; his competitors' are stiff. That, to his legion of acolytes, is what makes him the supreme tennis player. And the greatest.